BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS
AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Senator Norma J. Torres, Chair
BILL NO: SB 1294 HEARING DATE: 4/1/14
AUTHOR: HUFF ANALYSIS BY: Darren Chesin
AMENDED: 4/21/14
FISCAL: YES
SUBJECT
Ballot titles and summaries
DESCRIPTION
Existing law , pursuant to both the Constitution and specified
statutes, requires the proponent of a proposed initiative or
referendum to submit the proposal to the Attorney General (AG)
who must prepare a circulating title and summary of its chief
points and purposes. The AG must provide a copy of the title
and summary to the Secretary of State (SOS) within 15 days after
receipt of the final version of a proposed initiative measure,
or if a fiscal estimate is to be included, within 15 days after
receipt of the fiscal estimate prepared by the Department of
Finance (DOF) and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC)
who have 25 days to prepare the fiscal estimate. The AG must
provide a copy of the circulating title and summary of a
proposed referendum measure to the proponents of the measure and
the SOS within 10 days after receipt of the proposed referendum.
The circulating title and summary of a proposed statewide
ballot measure must appear on the measure's petitions.
Existing law also requires the AG to provide a ballot label and
a ballot title for each measure to be submitted to the voters at
a statewide election for inclusion in the state ballot pamphlet
and the actual ballots.
This bill would require the Legislative Analyst (LAO), instead
of the AG, to prepare the ballot label and the ballot title and
summary for all measures submitted to the voters of the state.
This bill does not affect the existing role of the AG in
preparing the circulating title and summary of proposed ballot
measures.
This bill also makes other conforming changes.
BACKGROUND
The LAO and the JLBC . The LAO is overseen by the JLBC, a
16-member bipartisan joint committee of the Legislature.
According to their website, the LAO's analytical staff covers
several budget and policy areas: Criminal Justice, State
Finance, Education (including K-12 and Higher Education), Health
and Human Services, Natural Resources and Environment, General
Government (including Local Government), Transportation, and
Capital Outlay and Infrastructure.
Historically, one of the most important responsibilities of the
LAO has been to analyze the annual Governor's budget. More
generally, the office is a staff resource to all legislators.
The LAO also performs the following functions:
Budget "Control." The LAO reviews requests by the
administration to make changes to the budget after it is
enacted. These reviews are used primarily by members of the
JLBC and the fiscal committees.
Special Reports. Throughout the year, the office prepares
special reports on the state budget and topics of interest to
the Legislature.
Initiatives and Ballot Measures. The office estimates the
fiscal effect on state and local government of all proposed
initiatives (prior to circulation) and prepares analyses of
all measures that qualify for the statewide ballot.
Forecasting. The LAO forecasts the state revenues and
expenditures.
Helpful Definitions . "Ballot title" is the name of a statewide
measure included in the ballot label and the ballot title and
summary (e.g., Widget Manufacturing Standards. Initiative
Statute.). "Ballot label" means that portion of the ballot
containing the statement of a measure. For statewide measures,
the ballot label shall contain no more than 75 words and shall
be a condensed version of the ballot title and summary including
the fiscal impact summary prepared.
COMMENTS
SB 1294 (HUFF)
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1.According to the Author : California statute dictates that the
Attorney General shall provide a ballot title and summary for
each initiative, which will "give a true and impartial
statement of the purpose of the measure in such language that
the ballot title shall neither argue, nor be likely to create
prejudice, for or against the proposed measure."
The trustworthiness of our initiative process is compromised
when the ballot title and summary appears to be partial.
Unfortunately, ballot language is susceptible to
politicization, and can lead to inaccurate and misleading
summaries about what an initiative would or would not do.
This leads to a confused and frustrated, rather than educated
and engaged, electorate. Voters have become apathetic to the
entire voting process because ballot initiatives have become
too difficult to understand.
While initiatives themselves are inherently political, the
ballot title and summary should not be. In recognition of the
fact that certain functions of government should be
partisan-free, the election of judges and school officials was
made non-partisan when voters approved a ballot measure in
1911, yet we still give the responsibility of writing
"impartial" ballot titles and summaries to a partisan office.
The recent February 2014 lawsuit in which San Jose Mayor Chuck
Reed has sued Attorney General Kamala Harris illustrates the
urgent need for reform. In this case, Attorney General Harris
is being sued for using false and misleading statements, which
argue for the measure's defeat.
The voting public, as well as authors of future ballot
initiatives will be positively affected by this measure. An
effective, transparent initiative process requires a
non-partisan entity without political pressures to draft the
ballot title and summary. SB 1294 transfers the
authority to write the ballot title and summary from the AG's
Office to the non-partisan LAO.
The LAO is a non-partisan organization that provides credible
and impartial analysis for the Legislature. The LAO currently
provides an unbiased and honest analysis of each initiative.
With this new duty, the LAO will create a fair and balanced
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ballot title and summary for each initiative.
2.Similar Legislation . SB 1253 (Steinberg), which is also
before this committee, would impose additional requirements on
the AG when preparing ballot titles and summaries.
AB 2394 (Gorell), which is pending in Assembly policy committee
would require the SOS, instead of the AG, to prepare the
ballot label and the ballot title and summary for all state
measures submitted to the voters and the circulating title and
summary for initiative and referendum measures.
SCA 19 (Fuller) and SB 1296 (Fuller) of 2012 would have
transferred the duty of preparing the title and summary for
proposed initiative or referendum measures from the AG to the
LAO. SCA 19 and SB 1296 failed passage in this committee.
AB 1968 (Niello) 2010, among other provisions would have
required the LAO, instead of the AG to prepare a circulating
title and summary of the chief purpose and points of a
proposed state initiative or referendum measure. That bill
failed passage in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 319 (Niello) 2009, was substantively similar to AB 1968
(Niello) above in that it would have required the LAO, instead
of the AG to prepare a circulating title and summary of the
chief purpose and points of a proposed state initiative or
referendum measure. AB 319 failed passage in the Assembly
Elections and Redistricting Committee.
POSITIONS
Sponsor: Author
Support: Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
Oppose: California Federation of Teachers
California Professional Firefighters
California School Employees Association
California State Council of the Service Employees
International Union
SB 1294 (HUFF)
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SB 1294 (HUFF)
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